Atlantic City

Members of a historic church in the city’s Chelsea neighborhood do not want a cannabis dispensary nearby, but one may be on the way just the same.

“They don’t want them anywhere near the casinos, but they don’t care where else they go,” said Tom Weer, pastor of Chelsea Baptist Church on Atlantic Avenue.

On Tuesday, the second recreational cannabis dispensary in Atlantic City opened. The Design 710 dispensary is owned by Christina Casile, who said the long process to get her business up and running was anything but fun.

While Mayor Marty Small and other city officials previously expressed their support for cannabis-related tourism, in late July they announced that all new license grants would be put on hold in late July.

New Jersey’s 38th recreational legal weed store is about to open.

Design 710 is located at 112 Park Place inside the Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City, two blocks from the boardwalk. It is the second legal weed store to open in the city and the closest to the beach.

The official opening date for recreational weed sales is Tuesday, Aug. 15.

The shop is part dispensary, part art gallery.

Some recently announced Atlantic City cannabis projects:

In an interview with NJ Spotlight News, Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small explains the decision and the future of cannabis in the city.

“Our plan is still to be the East Coast hub when it comes to cannabis,” Small said. “We don’t want to oversaturate the market here in the city … so we’re just taking a little pause to make sure that we roll this thing out right.”

A flood of planned new cannabis businesses may slow to a trickle, at least for now, while multiple proposals work their way through the state approval process.

The city has plans to become a cannabis capital along the East Coast, hoping the new industry can join the beaches and gaming as a draw for visitors and a source of jobs, revenue and economic development.

But at a recent meeting of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, at which multiple cannabis-related applications were up for approval, some members began to ask when enough would be enough.

Like casino gaming in 1978, massive investments in wind and cannabis will forever change AC. And not always for the better. Many family neighborhoods will be disrupted as most financial benefits of legal weed will go to Trenton, wind turbine and cannabis companies.

Some recently announced Atlantic City cannabis projects:

1812 Baltic, near Tanger Outlets. Cannabis cultivation and sales. Office space for other businesses.

Atlantic License Development LLC. Cannabis retail & consumption lounge at 901 Atlantic Ave.

As the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority approved more cannabis businesses for Atlantic City, and with more likely on the way, members at the Tuesday meeting of the Board of Directors asked when enough will be enough.

The board gave unanimous approval to five planned cannabis businesses in the city, in its role as the planning authority within the city’s Tourism District. That area overlaps with the city’s Green Zone redevelopment area, where cannabis businesses are an approved use.

Early indications look promising, with multiple potential cannabis businesses seeking state licenses to open in the city and more on the way. About $35 million in new investment is expected as part of two large-scale cannabis businesses in town, and MPX NJ, which became the city’s first business open to the recreational cannabis market on New York Avenue on April 20, is building a new and bigger structure right behind the current location.

A new agriculture museum devoted to cannabis is set to open in Atlantic City, as the destination in New Jersey, US, turns to marijuana in an attempt to significantly boost tourism.

Once complete, the museum will feature a 125,000sq ft (11,612sq m) indoor grow site and warehouse and will host cannabis-themed interactive exhibitions, educational displays and pop-up events.